Jolyon Palmer could only complete ten minutes' running in
Friday's (27 November) Free Practice session at Abu Dhabi - his
final FP1 for Lotus F1 Team before he steps up to a full race
driver role in 2016.

Shortly before the session was due to commence, a water leak was
discovered on Jolyon's E23 Hybrid. The Lotus F1 mechanics worked
extremely hard to remedy the issue, and completed repairs in time
for Jolyon to join the track with just over ten minutes
remaining.

Jolyon's initial timed lap placed him 18th on the leaderboard,
and he gained a second in the final five minutes of the session,
but with such limited running was unable to improve his
position.

World Champion Lewis Hamilton led Free Practice One with a time
of 1m43.754, just 0.141s ahead of team-mate Nico Rosberg. Ferrari's
Kimi Raikkonen posted the third-fastest time in the 90-minute
session.

Jolyon said: "It was frustrating to sit out almost the entire
session, but we had a water leak this morning that needed to be
fixed. The guys did a good job to get me out at all and I did four
timed laps. The car wasn't the easiest to drive but it was nice to
be out there putting some laps in in my last FP1 as reserve
driver."

Alan Permane, Lotus F1 Team's Trackside Operations Director,
said: "There was a water leak on Jolyon's car which meant he missed
most of the session however his crew did a fantastic job to get the
car out. With just nine laps on track, it certainly wasn't an
extensive programme for Jolyon, however he did nevertheless
complete vital work in his customary professional fashion which
helps us ensure the car is ready for the rest of the weekend."